Canadian Reports/Discussion
Cedar Lake, Ontario
Had a good 3 days with George and Loui.Weather wise was not the best.0c starts in the mornings with high winds and pretty steady rain or drizzle throughout the days.Fished the Indian Lake Chain a couple of days and we fished Cedar Lake one day.Boys decided to not fish Thursday as snow and high winds were forecasted.Boat was left at Clarks so I went to get it but fished on my own and had a good day raising 4 muskies and did well on the walleyes in a bit of a snow storm that ended early in the morning.
Just returned last night from a week at Cedar.
There were four of us in our group this time. We have fished it before in fall and spring.
Two of us went to Spadina on Monday to explore new water and look for perch. It was a fun outing. We did not catch many perch, and no pigs in the bunch. We did find the right weeds in two different areas, that is where they were, but in very limited amounts. We did see a pair of swans on the water back there. The ride back was fun and clear of any debris. Plenty deep all of the way, did not have to take it slow, but did as a precaution. We caught a few perch, a small northern, an 8” musky, and some small bass. We used jig & minnow and also a drop shot rig with minnow. We did stop at the burned out bridge on the way back to try for walleye. That was really fun, we nailed them, big and small. It was fun fighting the bigger fish with all of the current. It was really tough trying to control the boat with the fast current. Eventually we had enough fighting current and left.
Now to talk about Cedar. We caught over 800 walleyes for the week. Most fish were in 18’-28’ of water. We caught 22 over 22”, the biggest being 28”. We stayed at Clark’s Northern Lights Resort, love the free minnows there. Fish were on east and west sides, as well as Times Square. We also caught over 40 crappie and over 20 perch. Water temp was 63 when we got there, it was 59 when we left.
We considered it a very good week, looking forward to spring.
Blue Marlin-no portage. When the water is low, a beaver builds a small dam that you need to go through. With the number of boats going in and out this year and the water level being higher, it's not an issue. Just go slow and be watchful. The larger perch were all caught last year so this year the perch are much smaller. We don't keep any under 10" and had a difficult time finding many that size and fewer yet over that size. I would go and give it a try though. There are also walleyes, northern and small mouth bass in the lake. Give it a try. You do follow the river upstream past the burned out bridge and when you get to whale rock, go right toward an orange shallow water bouy. Then turn left into Spadina (Rainy) Lake.
Steve
Jigfish is correct on the directions to Spadina, but you don't have to portage your boat to get there. Beavers have been known to get in there, but there is usually enough traffic to move the sticks. And it's shallow, depending on what boat you have and water levels, it may not be worth the trip. I wouldn't even go this time of year as the perch are probably in deeper water. And Spadina is for the most part pretty shallow.
Very seldom do we come back without a cooler full of perch. If you want perch, FIND WEEDS. It was really hard to find a good weed bed this year, but the ones we found were full of perch. Also a great northern lake, no size but plenty there to keep you entertained.
We found the best/biggest bite from 25 to 30 fow where ever the transition from soft to hard bottom shows on the graph. These fish were the most active and proved to be the biggest walleye in the area. Steeper breaks along islands and up to the shorelines with more of a gravel bottom were the ticket.
We did not venture up to Spadina for the perch. The crappies were on one day and off the next. Walleye bit even in the worst weather in that transition zone. Best bites were at the north ends of both legs.
We booked again for 2020 only earlier by a couple of weeks hoping for some better weather.
Good luck and post some pictures certainly is a great place to explore and figure out the bites.
Mac
Blue Marlin, to get to Spadina, you take the river past the burned railroad trestle into Perrault, keep going straight, then take a portage with your boat into Spadina. We have never been there, only have heard about it. It is supposed to have big perch and also walleye. I do not think it will be that great, but we want to go exploring. Google the lake and you will see a map of how to get there.
We usually go up in October, but have to go up early this year. We will see what we can find.
We catch musky and northern while jig fishing for walleye. My biggest up there is 49 1/2”, that was fun on 6lb line.
1jigfish2,
Heading to Cedar this Friday, go the last week of September every year with my 3 brothers. Do very well on walleyes and crappies and catch more musky than we need!!
How do you get to Spadina? boat from Cedar? whats it known for? We normally take a day for lake trout on Cliff, but maybe something different this year
This Musky picked up my jig as well as my brothers at the same time. Still a good fight with two of us fighting the same fish!
Mac da Gaff, thanks for the report, we head up Saturday. We fish for walleye.
What areas did you fish with that depth? At this time, we normally go a bit shallower. Later in fall we go deep, does that mean they already are there? Water temps are not cold yet, that is strange.
Did you make it up to Spadina or Perrault? We are thinking of exploring that, just for something different.
Back from Cedar Lake Sat. pm. I would love to say we smoked the Musky but not so much. Almost all of our musky came on walleye presentations. We could raise fish on a regular basis but they would seldom commit.
Rather than admit we are poor musky fishermen we will blame it on the 4 days of rain and winds of 20 mph. from the east. Walleye fishing was almost easy, 17 to 27 FOW Gulp plastics and crawlers caught eyes, with the larger fish 21" to 27" caught on Gulp. Several Smallies were incidental catches while walleye fishing along with a couple off smaller pike we hooked while skie fishing.
Crappies and perch eluded us again but hope to polish that technique next year. We are planning on moving our week up to late August to attempt to get a favorable weather pattern.
Even with the 38 deg F wake up temps we had a good time. Water temps dropped from 64 F to 58 F in our week.
Still can hear the Eagles and Loons as I go to sleep, can't wait till next year and will pray for a break from the weather Gods.
Mac out, thanks for all the help !!!
